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Rwanda International Community to the Situations in Rwanda and Srebrenica, Which Resulted in Concrete Recommendations

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Rwanda International Community to the Situations in Rwanda and Srebrenica, Which Resulted in Concrete Recommendations 600mm 653mm 653mm 653mm 653mm 600mm Acknowledging Failure After 1994, the UN initiated reviews of the lack of appropriate reaction by the Rwanda international community to the situations in Rwanda and Srebrenica, which resulted in concrete recommendations. In April 2004, at a Special Session of the Commission on Human Rights commemorating the 10th anniversary of what would have prevented this? Too Little, Too Late the Rwandan genocide, the Secretary-General acknowledged the On 17 May 1994, with the genocide finally undeniable, the UN Security “collective failure” of the UN to protect the people of Rwanda and announced a Council voted to expand the UN peacekeeping mission to 5,500 Although the Rwandan genocide took many people by five-point action plan for the prevention Failure to react... War Breaks Out peacekeepers with the mandate “to contribute to the security and protection of genocide. As part of the plan, in July surprise, there had been enough warning signs that of displaced persons, refugees and civilians at risk in Rwanda”. However, no 2004 the Secretary-General appointed a Special Advisor on the Prevention of In the 1980s, Tutsis in exile sought to return to Rwanda, but were prevented from doing so. Some genocide was imminent. A history of discrimination, reinforcements arrived. A separate multinational force, led by France and Genocide to report through him to the joined the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), a largely Tutsi rebel army that invaded Rwanda in 1990, authorized by the Council to use force to establish secure conditions for Security Council on situations that, if not violence and massacres preceded and foretold the events of seeking the right of exiles to return. Tutsis in Rwanda were arrested and harassed as accomplices humanitarian relief, was deployed in late June. “Operation Turquoise” is halted, could deteriorate into genocide. 1994. of the invasion. Extremist radio and print media depicted all Tutsis as helping the invading force. credited with saving lives within the safe zone it established, but controversy A peace deal was signed in August 1993 in Arusha, Tanzania, between the RPF and the Rwandan over its full role continues. When the RPF forced the extremist government A History of Discrimination government, designed to end the civil war. out of power and ended the genocide, soldiers, officials and militiamen were The UN Assistance Mission in Rwanda (UNAMIR) was able to use the safe zone to flee into Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Rwanda’s three ethnic groups, the sent in to oversee implementation of the accords. Congo). Some of these soldiers and militia would later conduct incursions However, the accords had overlooked the growing into Rwanda and participate in the ten-year war in the DRC which claimed majority Hutu, minority Tutsi and threat of Hutu extremism in the army, the media and sections of government. over three million lives. Hutu militiaman with a Government soldier in Gitarama, Rwanda, 12 June 1994. smaller Twa population shared a Many analysts, journalists and policy-makers saw the killings at the time as a by-product of civil war. In reality, at the point the genocide began, a ceasefire between the Government and RPF was still in place. The eruption of the genocide common language, religion and triggered renewed hostilities. In the absence of international intervention, defeat of the Government by the RPF brought it to an end. culture. The country was ruled by a © Alexander Joe/AFP French soldier in Cyangugu, Rwanda, 27 June 1994. predominantly Tutsi monarchy until The display of this photo has been made possible by Aegis Trust colonized by Germany in 1895. 2140mm Rwandan Government soldier Belgium took control in 1916. guards civilian detainees in Kigali, 7 October 1990, following invasion by the Impressed by the highly developed Rwandan Patriotic Front six days earlier. monarchy and unwilling to accept © Derrick Ceyrac/AFP/EPA it as African in origin, colonists and Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, UN Force Commander early explorers called the Tutsis a in Rwanda, 1994. © Reuters Justice superior “black Aryan” race. Tutsis Belgium’s King Baudouin welcomed by King Mutara III Rudahigwa (1931-1959) who worked in the beginning in close cooperation with Genocide the coloniser. After his consecration of Rwanda to Christ in 1946, the were given privileged positions in Belgian authorities reshaped Rwandan society according to for the European and Church values. On 11 January 1994, UNAMIR Commander Massacred civilians at the roadside in eastern Rwanda, 9 May 1994. the colonial administration. Source: Royal Museum of Central Africa The display of this photo has been made possible by Aegis Trust Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire alerted UN Victims Hutus were considered second-class “Bantu Negroids” and the headquarters that extremist militia were preparing for mass killings and had In 1995, the Security Council Twas “pygmies”. assembled weapons for that purpose. established the International Dallaire stated his intention to seize the Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda In 1932, Belgium introduced identity cards stating the ethnicity of weapons, but was denied permission since (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania, to such action was considered outside the the bearer. Tutsi control ended in 1957 when the Catholic Church prosecute persons force’s mandate. Théoneste Bagasora in Arusha. Bagasora was Chief of responsible for genocide and the colonial authorities helped Hutu elites take power. The Cabinet at the Ministry of Defence at the beginning of A plane carrying President Habyarimana genocide. The alleged mastermind of the genocide, he and other serious provided weapons and coordinated the Interahamwe. overthrow was violent. Tutsis were massacred, and thousands was shot down on 6 April, triggering the violations of © AFP/Alexander Joe forced into exile. In 1962, Grégoire Kayibanda became the first start of the genocide. Soldiers in the international presidential guard targeted moderate Hutu humanitarian law committed in the territory of Rwanda. Trials elected Hutu president. His regime retained the identity cards. leaders, including the Prime Minister, within began in January 1997. The Tribunal has convicted twenty-eight hours. An extremist Hutu government was put in place by the military, and from then on the Tutsi people and acquitted five. Twenty-seven people are currently Kayibanda was overthrown by army officer Juvenal Habyarimana population became the focus of the killing. on trial and eight are awaiting the start of their cases. Eighteen accused are still at large. With over 100,000 genocide suspects in 1973. Under Habyarimana, Tutsis were systematically in prison, Rwanda resorted to a modern version of village discriminated against and subjected to sporadic violence. Abandoned tribunals called ‘Gacaca’ as a way to handle the impossible caseload. Locally elected judges hear all cases except rape cases and those of local leaders who planned and led As fighting resumed between the government and RPF, foreign embassies sent in troops to rescue massacres. Gacaca courts may impose sentences of up to their citizens, abandoning Rwandans to their fate. When the presidential guard killed ten Belgian Mass Murder 30 years. Cases are referred to national courts if found to UN peacekeepers, Belgium, the main troop contributor to the mission, recalled its soldiers. On 12 be outside the Gacaca mandate. • Rwanda’s genocide began on 7 April 1994 April 1994, the UN Security Council rejected the possibility of reinforcing the mission and the use of the term ‘genocide’ to describe the killings. Members voted to scale down the mission. Dallaire Froduald Karuhije (right) and his family risked • Over 800,000 Tutsis were murdered in a their lives to protect 14 Tutsis in Gitarama. He hundred days was left with only 354 troops. Nevertheless, his team managed to save thousands of civilians. hid them in covered trenches that he dug on his land. His sister cooked for them, and his 12-year-old niece would take the food out to Thousands of moderate Hutus were among • them. Pictured in Gitarama, March 2004 the victims © Aegis Trust ‘Lessons from Rwanda’ is a production of Aegis Trust for genocide prevention www.aegistrust.org Background picture: A wounded man lies in a (UK Registered Charity 1082856), in partnership with the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI). Red Cross hospital, Rwanda, 19 June 1994 The exhibition forms part of ‘Learning the lessons of the genocide in Rwanda’, an outreach programme established by UNDPI in accordance with the mandate provided by General Assembly The display of this photo has been made resolution 60/225 of 23 December 2005. possible by Aegis Trust This exhibition was made possible with the generous support of: Barbara Moran Edmonds UK The Pears Foundation Three Generations .
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